He opened his eyes, grumbling in confusion. He heard the constant beeping of an unfamiliar machine next to him. He felt his arms, and all the tubes that seemed to be connected to him. He blinked back a few tears before sitting up in his bed, eyeing the room. There were cards, flowers, pictures, balloons, stuffed animals, Hawks merch; the room was full. He didn't understand why there was so much here; what happened?

Leaning over the other side of the bed, he pressed a red button, calling a nurse to his side. It took less than a second before a few doctors and a nurse walked in, eyes wide in surprise.

"J-Jon?" The nurse, Sarah stuttered with wide eyes. She felt her heart soar for her new friend Addison; she would be so happy. She knew how much she was struggling with the absence of her other half. "Oh my god- how are you feeling?" She asked, as the doctors surrounding her recorded his vitals, checking every single inch of him in amazement.

"I have to say, Mr. Toews, we didn't expect you to wake up" Doctor O'Dell told him harshly. He knew he had been hard on his wife previously, telling her the chances of him making it were slim to none. But he, in his professional and medical opinion, really believed he was never going to wake up; it was a miracle.

"Wake up?" Jon asked, confused. "What do you mean?" He eyed the nurse and doctor with confusion. What did he mean by what he said? Jon looked around the room, for any sight of Addison or his little boy. In less than a month, he would be blessed with the presence with a baby girl. He and Addison didn't agree on a name, but they decided in the moment, they would find the perfect name.

"Uh- yes, you've been on a coma" Sarah stepped forward, trying to break the news to him as gently as possible. Jon looked at her, shaking his head in disbelief. In a coma?

"In a coma? Where's Addie?" Jon asked, looking around anxiously for his beautiful pregnant wife.

"She's at home with the kids" Sarah told him slowly. "Doctor, you can leave; I'll take it from here" she practically shoved him out the door. She knew this was a delicate situation, and having him anywhere near Jon now would hurt Jon.

"With the kids? We only have one son" Jon informed her stupidly.

"Jon, what's the date today?" Sarah asked, dreading the answer.

"February 24th" he announced proudly. Wrong, Sarah thought to herself; It was March 29th.

"What year?" Sarah asked him kindly.

"2015" Jon told her skeptically. Sarah's eyes went wide upon realizing what had happened. Like most people who would be in a similar situation, they are unaware a year passed. And often wake up thinking it's the same day they last remember. But Jon was missing a year and a month; he didn't even know Addie had their daughter. "Why are you asking me all these questions?" Jon asked his nurse. "Where's Addie and when can I see her and Ryder?" After a long night all he wanted to see was his wife and son. The last thing he remembered he passed out from being so drunk, and somehow ended up in the hospital.

"She's at home with Ryder..." She trailed off nervously. "And Aveyah"

"Whose Aveyah?" Jon asked in surprise. Aveyah was the name he had picked out to name their future daughter. For whatever reason, Addie wasn't a fan of it. He hoped desperately he'd see it was the perfect name for their little princess.

"Your daughter" Sarah sat on the edge of his bed, beginning to remove the various tubes from him. he finally felt free from the restraints of all the tubes that surrounded him. He tried to understand what Sarah had just told him; did Addison give birth last night? But why was she at home already? He had so many questions pulsing through his head.

"She named her Aveyah? But she isn't due for another month?" Jon informed the obviously crazy nurse. "Did she have the baby a month early?" He grabbed his head in confusion it beginning to throb lightly.

"Look, Jon, I don't know how to tell you this" Sarah looked him in the eyes. She didn't want to be the one to break the news to him, but she knew how much of a breakdown Addison would have if she saw him like this; oblivious to a whole year and month's events.

"Tell me what!?" He asked in exasperation.

"Here" she grabbed the remote, flicking on the television that sat directly across from his bed. He changed to a sports channel, where he would obviously understand more of what's going on. Jon's eyes shifted to the TV, reading the scores across the bottom of the screen. He wasn't really listening to the sportscaster, until he said his name.

"It's been a year since the tragic accident that injured a lot of the players and staff of the Blackhawks organization, and put team captain Jonathan Toews in a coma to which he is still not yet recovered. During the warm up before the game yesterday, all the players wore the captains jersey, number 19, in honour of their fallen captain. We here, as well as family, friends, teammates and fans, hope that he wakes up soon; we're never giving up hope" the announcer smiled, right before it cut to a montage of some of the best plays Jon had made in his short career.

"Accident?" He asked, trying his best to process all the information he had just obtained.

"I'll let Addie and Patrick explain the rest, just.. I wanted you to know" she smiled lightly, checking her phone. Addison had replied to her text message almost instantly, telling Sarah she was on the way.

"Okay" Jon spoke, turning off the TV.




Sarah: hey Addie. Are you able to come down to the hospital now? The doctor would like to speak with you.

I rubbed my eyes, checking my phone in the wee hours of the morning. I jumped out of bed once I realized who the text was from; the nurse that looked after Jon.

Addison: be there in fifteen

It was four in the morning, but I felt awake as ever. Anything that could give me good news about Jon was worth waking up early for. I decided it was best to get Patrick as well; if the news was bad I wouldn't be able to take it by myself. I quickly jumped into some appropriate clothing before running down the stairs.

"What are you doing up?" I asked in confusion. I ran downstairs into the kitchen, and ran into him, fully dressed, drinking a cold glass of water.

"Sarah texted me" he shrugged. "I assume that's why you're up?" He asked with a grin. I nodded, stuffing a chocolate chip muffin into my mouth.

"I was actually coming to get you" I laughed, swallowing my food. "I don't know whose going to look after Ryder and Aveyah though so-"

"Abby is on the way" Patrick interrupted me. Before I even had a chance to say anything further, a light knock on the door interrupted my thoughts. "Wow, she made good time" Pat laughed, heading to the front door to open it for Abby.

"Abby- thank you-"

"Save it, I know. Go! Go find out news about Jon" she rambled. She was half asleep, and I was quite certain she wasn't completely aware of what was going on.

"Ready to go?" I asked Pat nervously. He nodded, taking my hand and leading me to the car.

"Let's hope for the best" he sighed, hopping into the drivers side.

"What if it isn't?" I asked nervously playing with my fingers. It was cold, light snow falling from the sky. It was still dark, the streets of the neighbourhood quiet and abandoned. it felt weird to be up and heading to the hospital at this hour of the morning.

"It will be; it has to be" Patrick assured me, and himself. "I can't bare the thought of-" he cut himself off, letting the sentence longer in the air. The rest of the drive was in a comfortable silence, the both of us presumably thinking about what the doctor wanted to discuss. As much as I hoped and wished for good news, I had a feeling it wouldn't be something I wanted to hear, especially after the discussion with the doctor the other day.

"Steady?" Patrick asked once we finally arrived into the parking lot. I nodded, taking an Ativan, bracing myself for whatever news could possibly await me.



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Notes